Rocky smiled his best smile when approaching Emily at her locker. "Hey," he greeted. "I'll take those."

Emily put on an unreadable smile in response then handed off her books. If he wants to carry them, let it be. It's been two weeks. But, let it be. Why even let him ask when she can just hand them over? It's been two weeks, and her memory remains spotty. Some of the things in her diary resonated, and were recalled all the way to the conclusion without finding it amongst the pages later on. However, the feelings, all the rest, just weren't there.

There was a summer when the guys couldn't ninja train because their grandfather needed a surgical rest for his foot. He'd twisted it somehow and his daughter insisted the boys stay home. She knew that if the kids were at the cabin then Mori would be up and about making the injury worse rather than better.

Emily and the Douglas brothers went to the beach. Colt, the fish, went straight for the water. Tum Tum didn't yet make it out of the parking lot, planted in the tailgating area. Rocky hung out with her on the sand. He relaxed, secretly watching as she built a sandcastle.

Out of the blue, Rocky told her that her swimsuit was really pretty. Honestly, it was a little embarrassing, but just a little because her cheeks blushed from the compliment. It took forever to pick out a swimsuit. She chose a two piece with a shorts bottom and sport's bra top, that showed off her torso. Sadie insisted on a bikini, but at 15 years old, that seemed a bit too much for her liking.

She wanted a boyfriend that year. A nice guy. All her friends were dating, and she only had school, after school clubs, and a friend going on. She wasn't ready for anything serious, but dating seemed doable. Plus, her parents weren't so strict that they'd tell her she can't date until the end of high school. And it's summer, no chance of anything getting in the way of a "Yes".

If Rocky, a boy, thought she looked pretty then other boys would think so, too.

"Come on and help me out." She waved him over.

Rocky had gathered shells to decorate the castle that she worked on. Then they laughed like children as they destroyed it like a couple of giants. After that they went into the ocean for a swim. It was a great summer of goofing off, and just being friends.

At least, that's what it was on paper. Currently, Emily wasn't so sure. Almost anytime Rocky was mentioned it was fondly. She was beginning to think that she, as her former self, harbored a secret crush on her friend. As for how Rocky feels about her, she's unclear. He sometimes sounds like a secret admirer on paper, but other times he sounds like a friend - a sometimes annoying friend, but a friend all the same. It's bound to have ups and downs due to gender, so she supposed it doesn't really count as a strike.

"Rocky..." She started to say, but her words faltered. Her gaze caught sight of a guy that she's been off and on eyeing since returning to school. Her question began to redirect. "Rocky.." Again, she is interrupted. "Huh?"

"Wanna go to Wendy's after school?" Rocky asked.

"Sure." She replied on auto-pilot. She lost sight of the guy she'd been watching. Noticing she made it to her class, she took her books and said she'd see him later.

...

"Where's Rocky? Did anybody see him come in?" Emily asked while taking a seat at the table. She looked around for herself to spot her friend.

"Library." Sadie replied with pause, then nodded. "Yeah, he went to the library."

Emily wondered why he'd go to the library? It's lunch period. Well, it kinda worked out. She needed a male-free area for this conversation. "Anyone wanna trade for something in my lunch?"

Alyssa looked over the food items placed on the table. "Half your sandwich for mine, aaaand some of your pear slices for my carrots."

"Deal."

Sadie only swiped a carrot stick, because it would be hard for her to trade school lunch with baggers.

"So, I asked Ricky out, and he said "Yes"! I couldn't believe it!" She bounced a bit on her seat.

"I thought he was" Emily made quotation fingers. "a brace-face loser. Why would he say no?"

"Because he's so good-looking now, he has the right to be a jerk to those who made fun of him."

Emily was inwardly disgusted. What kind of way is that to think, let alone behave? "Speaking of cute guys to ask out, do you guys see that really cute blond guy behind me?"

Her friends blinked. They looked around for such a blond stunner. There were any number of blond guys in the cafeteria right now. Eric. Marlow. Fisher.

"You can look outright, he's got his back to us." She nodded. "That one with the rat-tail."

Had both girls been deaf they would still have perfectly heard that description. But, no way, there was just no way Emily was talking about THAT particular blond. Not him. Sadie exchanged glances with Alyssa silently asking who should tell their poor amnesiac friend.

"Do you mean... Darren Masterson?" Sadie asked. Just to be sure of the 100 percent sure.

"If that's his name." Emily looked over her shoulder and smiled. "I've been seeing him in the halls. He's really cute."

Again her friends exchange glances.

"What? Is he seeing someone already?"

"I mean... Who knows." Alyssa shrugged her hand. "But, he's kinda.. I mean, he's not the nicest person."

Her best friend cut in. "He stole your bike two years ago."

"Really?" She tried to recall the encounter, but nothing was coming back to her.

"He hates your best guy friend, and his brother Colt." Sadie added.

"Wow... That's too bad..." She looked over her shoulder again. Her disappointment was evident.

"But, that's not to say he couldn't have changed." The expressive brunette shrugged when receiving an elbow to the side from Sadie. "It's true! He hasn't really gone out of his way to bother Emily since then, just the Douglas brothers."

"Yeah, but, hating someone's best friend doesn't rank as a 5 star relationship."

"It could be a turning point for them."

Emily ate her lunch while listening to them debate about the pros and cons of dating Darren Masterson. She spots Rocky walking in at the midway point of the lunch period; he waved to her but sat at a different table. 'Or... do I like...'

"Rocky has to know about it." Sadie informed. "If you ask Darren out, you can't just show up with the guy. He'll flip."

"He'll understand. If he's my friend, he'll be supportive."

A tall brunet sidled up to their table. He grinned shyly. "Aly', do you want the rest of my M&M's?"

"Sure." She smiled at her boyfriend, taking the offered bag. "Emily might join us for a movie this Friday."

Ricky blushed. "I've never been on a double-date before," he then mumbled that he's never had a solo date before either.

Sadie and Emily snickered to each other. Alyssa kissed him on the cheek, then sent him on his way.

"So, are you gonna ask him out?"

Emily tapped her finger on the table. Is she? Darren's laughter hit her ears, and her heart skipped. It was such a nice sound. Confident. Cool. Happy. Yes. She'll ask him out, and to keep things light and fun, she'll double with Alyssa and Ricky. "I'll ask him. It was Darren?"

"Yeah." Her friends replied in unison.

"Lyssa, can we really double with you and Rick?"

"Sure!" Her smile said, she felt that it would be like a live science experiment watching her squeaky-clean friend try to civilize a walking zombie. Darren certainly exhibits braindead behavior sometimes.

'Now all I need is the courage to do it. I may not remember anything bad he's done to me or Rocky,' she absently ate a slice of pear. 'but he knows how he feels about us, or possibly just Rocky and his brother.' She picked up Alyssa's half of the traded sandwich and examined the roast beef and pickles before taking a bite. 'It was two years ago. He definitely got over it.'

...

"Um.. Darren?"

Emily left her language class and followed Darren when seeing him head for his locker. She wasn't sure of how she was going to shake Rocky, since the guy showed up anytime she left a classroom. She has slight amnesia, she's not trying to feed her nostrils. But, like lunch, he wasn't there. She's not sure if it suddenly dawned on him that she's not helpless, or he's just busy today. But, she wasn't about to look a Gift Horse in the mouth.

'What does that even mean?' She wondered.

"What do you want?" Darren asked when moving the door of his locker to see who had called him.

"Do you... Do you know me?"

"Should I?" He studied her with an arrogant eye, then sincerely took her in. Does he know her? "Wait.. yeah, I know you. Ha, wanna get revenge over that stupid bike?"

"No. That's all in the past."

He shrugged. Grabbing his books, he shoved them into his bag before shoving the locker closed. "If you've come to tell me you forgive me, I don't care." He headed for the exit with the rest of the students.

'So much for a turn around. Maybe this was a bad idea.' She followed after him. 'He clearly still has a grudge against me for some reason.' She tapped him on the shoulder. "Listen, this isn't about the past. Frankly, I don't even remember what happened."

"Then why are you bothering me?"

"I was wondering if you wanna see a movie with me this Friday," Her pace came to an abrupt halt when Darren stopped walking. "we'll be with my friend Alyssa and her boyfriend, Rick."

Darren smiled into a laugh. She couldn't be serious?! Date her?! Her?! "What is this? Some dumb thing you're cooking up with Douglas?" He starts for the exit. "Do I look stupid?"

"No." Emily turned when Darren did. She thought he was headed for the exit, but he turned down and started down the hall towards the gym. "And Douglas doesn't know anything about this."

"Leave me alone."

"Because you hate me?"

"I don't hate you." Darren even surprised himself with how he'd said it. Or even that he said it. He supposed not liking Emily went with despising Rocky and his horsey brother.

"Then why the laughter? Why not go out with me - just this once."

"Because it's a set-up."

"How is it a set up?" She hurried ahead and stood in front of him to block his path. "A passable girl asking a cute boy out... And this supposed sworn enemy knows nothing about it... How is that a "set up"?"

Darren just blinked. How did that sound like anything else. "Suppose I do agree... What're you gonna tell the karate kid?"

"He doesn't own me. We're just friends." She crossed her arms, with a smile. "And, you sound like someone who should be asking what're we going to see?"

Darren smirked. "Ok. Ok, you know what.. Fine. I'll go with you."

"Great." She flirted. "Because saying no is a lot scarier than wondering if Rocky is going to be mad. I'm a pretty good date."

Darren shook his head, but his smile says that he appreciated the comment. "We'll see. Friday?"

"Yeah. Nine."

"Ok."

She stepped aside.

"See you Friday."

"Darren," she called after him.

"Yeah?"

"It's Emily."

He smiled then continued to the gymnasium to change for baseball practice.

Emily pumped her fist, mouthing. "Yes! Yes!"

"Emily," Rocky called down the hall. "It's this way, remember?"

"Yeah, be right there."

She caught up to him.

"Good day?"

"Yeah. Perfect."

"Great. Me too." He started telling her about a book he found.

But her mind was on Friday, and the date.